She's Okay
by Gallifreyan Annihilator
Summary: Poirot SS Competition #4: Fear. And then he said, "You don't have to worry anymore." /ShinRan/


**Summary:** Poirot SS Competition: Fear. And then he said, "You don't have to worry anymore." /ShinRan/

 **GA:** This is...super short, and kind of plotless, but when I saw the word _fear_ , I immediately thought of Ran during a particular scene in movie 19 (if you've seen it, then you know which part). _**This has NO spoilers for movie 19**_ , I was just inspired by it.

This was also actually inspired by...my own blog...ASofterDCMK, and _A Softer World_ is quoted at the end of the fic.

Enjoy!

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 **SHE'S OKAY.**

* * *

"What are you _saying?!"_ There was nothing worse than picking up the phone, because the voice on the other end always promised _tomorrow, tomorrow_ but never _today._ " _Why_ can't you come home? It's been _an entire year,_ Shinichi! You owe me an explanation!"

The other end was silent for far too long - but on days like these, mere seconds were often too long for her liking - and when he spoke, he spoke with trepidation. He wasn't cocky anymore, he wasn't arrogant, he wasn't... _Shinichi._ Something had broken in him a long time ago, no matter how many times he told her it would be okay, that he would be back someday.

( _Someday, Ran. I promise, I'm not leaving you._ )

( _Bullshit, Shinichi. You already have._ )

"I'll explain when I can, but it's...it's complicated. I'm sorry." And before she could so much as say another word, she was met with the tone that she learned to loathe, the single solid note that meant she wouldn't hear his voice for another week, and just a week if she was lucky enough. If not...she didn't want to think about it. It hurt enough that he wasn't _here_ , she didn't want to think about if he wasn't _there_ , either. It made her sick.

No, she would have to find solace in somebody else's voice. "Ran-neechan? Are you okay?"

With nothing more than a choked sob that slipped halfway out of her mouth, she reached forward and pulled Conan into a tight hug as soon as he emerged from behind the door. "I'm fine..." She was just as terrible a liar as Shinichi, but she had to be strong for them, even as small hands tangled themselves in the back of her shirt to comfort her and reminded her so much of _his_ that it hurt. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

* * *

"Soon, I swear."

"Soon isn't _enough!_ I want to know when!" She was so tired of yelling, but when it was Shinichi on the other line, she had to do something, _anything_ to stop herself from crying instead. "T-This is ridiculous, and you know it! Just disappearing, not coming back...Shinichi, I miss you." Something she admitted every time they talked, but the waver in her voice was all the more impactful. She missed him, she loved him and cared for him and _missed_ him, but no matter what she did, it just didn't seem to be enough for him.

"I miss you too, Ran," his voice wasn't nearly as composed as she was used to, and had she been in a better frame of mind, she would have felt victorious that she had managed to get the great Kudo Shinichi to _feel._

(It didn't matter, though. Not now, not when _her_ feelings were too much to care about _his_.)

"If you missed me, then you- you would be back by now!" But that wasn't how it worked, that was _never_ how it worked, no matter how many times she tried to tell him. "Why is that- that _case_ so important to you? _What's so important that you have to be gone all the time?"_

And this time, there wasn't even a farewell, just a single word followed by a dial tone. She couldn't even be sure that she had heard him right, because there was no way that his answer was so simple, so short, so...

" _You."_

...heartbreaking.

* * *

His voice. His words, his tone, his emotions, his _voice._ She could hear his voice-

"I told you soon, didn't I?"

-and now she could see him speak them, the only distance separating them being the doorframe separating the Mouri Detective Agency from the outside world. There was a glint in his eyes, mischief blended with relief and more than a hint of nervousness, even as he smirked up at her.

The smile, despite her love for his cocky grin and just seeing him _there,_ was replaced by a look of horror as a solid fist connected with his cheek. He stumbled back slightly, a hand reaching up to cover what would later become a flourishing bruise.

"Shinichi, you _jerk!_ "

And before he could reply, she all but launched herself across the entryway, ignoring any passerby in favor of wrapping her arms around him. "You...you absolute _idiot,_ " her voice was loud and muffled against his shirt, and warm, familiar hands grasped her shoulders and held her close. "Don't worry me like that again...do you know how long it's been?"

He chuckled slightly, a noise that was as infuriating as it was relieving. "One year, seven months and twelve days, right?"

She scowled up at him, and relished the moment as the smile slipped from his face, replaced by a worried frown. Finally, she replied. " _Too long,_ Shinichi. That's how long it's been." Once more, she hid her face in his shoulder, clinging and remembering as though he were about to disappear again. "I...I was scared," she admitted after another moment. "I didn't know if you'd come back, I-" Her voice broke at the same time that a hand reached up to slowly push her away, so that she was staring into the blue eyes that she had missed for so, _so_ long.

And he spoke again- not over a phone, not followed by a blasted dial tone, but to her face, with so much emotion that she had to wonder just how much he had been hiding for that one year, seven months and twelve days. "It's okay, Ran," he said, letting her push against his grip to bury herself into his chest once more. He was _here,_ and not _there,_ and maybe this time he'd stay and they could just be like this, forever.

"You don't have to worry anymore."

* * *

 _I'd like to read a story in the news that ends with, "but she was just having a bad dream."_

 _"Really, she's okay."_

 ** _-A Softer World._**

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 **GA:** Short, as it should be, but I hope you liked it nonetheless.

'Til next time!

 _~G. Annihilator_


End file.
